The Legacey Of Kat Manx 3
by HoldingOnToMyHeart
Summary: Zelda, elder daughter of Kat Manx, reveals what it was like to grow up in the delta base, some of her and her sisters adventures and what Kat was like as a mother. You don't need to read The Legacey of Kat Manx 1 or 2 to understand this one! Zelda p.o.v
1. The New Generation

**Zelda (the elder of Kat Manx's twin daughters) talks about what it was like growing up in the base, and what Kat was like as a mother... And Tells of some of the mischief she and her sister got up to as kids. **

**!YOU DONT NEED TO READ THE LEGACY OF KAT 1 OR 2 TO UNDERSTAND 3! **

**Chapters will be short and in the style of a series of oneshots, updates won't be as frequent... I want time to perfect the chapters rather than feel I HAVE to update if that makes sense? Rewriting some of it, to try and get some better character development.**

**I don't own any of PRSPD, but Zelda and Soara are mine!**

"You can't catch me!" I shrieked over my shoulder. "You're too slow!"

My pursuer said nothing, just stretched her legs further. I turned round and ran backwards, watching and laughing at her panting and struggling to keep up. Her dark green eyes were glittering, filled with a playful, mock hate. I laughed harder.

My laughter came to an abrupt end all of a sudden, when I tripped over my own feet and fell head-first into the command centre.

"Zelda!" I heard my mother, Dr Kat Manx, shouting, half angry half concerned, as she rushed over to me. She bent down and shook me slightly; she could tell I wasn't hurt. "What have I said to you before about running in the corridors?"

"Not to do it." I muttered, refusing to meet her eyes and trying not to show any emotion. Out the corner of my eyes I noticed Soara creeping in, pushing her wavy, glossy, dark brown hair behind her ears. She had caught her breath now, but my twin sister looked guilty and as embarrassed as hell.

"Exactly," Kat sighed. "Now pick yourself up and apologise to the commander for disturbing our meeting."

Great. A meeting. With the rest of B-Squad. Fabulous. How humiliating.

Shit, I thought, I'm screwed. Slowly I stood up, trying to keep my dignity held together. I pushed my straight, dark blonde hair back behind my shoulders again before daring to look up.

First I looked round the command centre at the rangers. Sky, who looked positively pissed off. Bridge who was struggling to keep a straight face. Z who gave me a sympathetic smile. And lastly Syd who winked as if to say "it doesn't matter honey".

Then I looked up at the commander, who stood up straighter and gave me an authoritative look.

That great blue dog never did scare me, even when he shouted. I don't know why, but his deep booming voice and his vicious snarl had no affect on me. My sister was the total opposite.

"Sorry," I said clearly and directly, looking into his face.

"Sorry what?" Cruger growled. I heard my sister whimper quietly, and guessed that in my position she would have been cowering.

"Sorry, sir," I corrected myself quickly. Children though we may have been, it was important for us to understand and respect regulations..

"That's okay, Zelda." He sighed. "What brings you to this area of the base anyway?"

I was so tempted to say boredom. It was the truth; there was never anything to do in the base for a pair of seven year old girls. We didn't ever go to school. By the time we were that age, it had already been decided we're doing all our training at SPD.

"I don't know sir... I was just... Well Soara was chasing me and then I ran into the doors and they opened and I fell over." I explained quickly. Bridge was really struggling now.

"Hmm, well go and find yourselves something useful to do." Cruger ordered.

"Yes sir." I saluted to him. I may have been less than half his height but I was adamant that said fact made me no less respectable.

"Good." My mothers pride twinkled in her green eyes. "Rachel and Mitchell will be back from school soon. You could see to them when they get back, explain that their father will be busy for about another hour?"

I instantly understood, that wasn't a suggestion, it was an order. I nodded and Soara and I headed off to the front entrance to meet them.

Rachel and Mitchell are the Commanders twins. They are the same age as us, in fact they were born on the same day (I have heard the story a million times) but their mother, who was called Isinia or something, died only days after their birth.

They DID go to school because it was very much doubted that Rachel would stay on at SPD. She showed no interest in anything we did and did not want to be a power ranger. To be honest, she was always the more the housewife type - nurturing, soft and kindly with no military streak in her; just like her mother, or so Kat always said.

Mitchell on the other hand has always had every interest in SPD. From a young age he wanted to be a brave commander and warrior like his father. By the time we were seven, Cruger had already decided to send his son to KO-37 for commander training as soon as he turned eighteen, and therefore he had to go to school because KO-37 only accept the best of the best.

We arrived at the fountain just in time to see them coming towards us. SPD has developed so much over the years, but the fountain at the front entrance still remains. The amount of times I'd heard the story of Sky scrubbing the whole thing with a toothbrush…

"Hey guys!" I called. Back then, we were equals. Even though there was a hint of respect and submission embedded in me and Soara (because these were the children of our mothers superior), we were, first and foremost, growing children. Friends.

"Hey Zelda! Hey Soara!" Rachel ran over. At the time she was about our height, but not as skimpily built. Her scaley skin was white with flecks of blue, and she had hair like Crugers, only blue.

"Hi Rachel!" Soara smiled.

Mitchell walked over more slowly; he was the spitting image of Cruger, he even had the same dignified air about him. I suppose that's why he never ran around or rushed: because Cruger didn't either. I didn't really like Mitchell, but I did my best to get along with him because I knew that one day I'd most likely be working for him. He'd be the commander, like Cruger, and myself and Soara would be co-chiefs of technology, like Kat, under his command. It was what we'd grown up hearing and knowing, and the prospect excited us!

I turned to Mitchell, "The commander will be busy for another hour or more. He is in a meeting with his B-Squad and with Miss Manx."

Mitchell nodded once. I looked at him. I was taller than him at the time, by a good couple of inches, but I knew this would change, and soon I would be looking up into his face, as he looked down on me.

From a young age we learned to treat Mitchell as our superior. When talking to him, my sister and I would have to talk in the way Kat would talk to Cruger, i.e. With a great deal of respect. According to Kat, this was good practice for the future; personally I thought it only gave Mitchell a bigger head than he already had.

He'd never really deserved that respect, I thought, and to my mind, it was only recently that he'd actually begun to do so. I guess he had begun to mature. But up until about a year ago, he was one of the worst behaved people I had ever met...


	2. The Difference Between Cats and Dogs

For us, bedtimes were always one of the best times of day for us. It meant all three of us (me, my sister and our mother) could be together as a family and not be interrupted or be busy working.

We slept in cribs when we were younger, obviously. But as soon as we were old enough - two years or so - Kat got us a really thick feather duvet, which we shared. To a human that may sound naff, but Kat said it was the closest thing she could find to what we would sleep in on our home planet of Felle at our age. We slept on that bed until we were nine years of age, and loved every single night of it.

Kat always sent us to bed at 7:30pm, so me and Soara would tell each other stories and bury ourselves down amongst the feathery duvet, pretending we were cygnets riding on the back of a swan. Kat came to bed between 8 and 9pm when we were that age, but we were always asleep when she crept into the room. We appreciated that we had to sleep, because it was an early start in the morning - 6:30 to be exact - and we knew we'd be tired if we did not. We learnt that lesson the hard way, and with that lesson we also discovered that if we are tired through fault of our own, we do not get Kat's sympathy; we still have to get out of bed.

We always got up and let Kat dress us into nice clothes, wash us and do our teeth done without much fuss. Once we were five we were doing it by ourselves.

And at night we would climb into a bath, play quietly for a while then get out and ready for bed.

To the outsider we probably seem like too perfect kids, but the way it worked was this - our mother only ever wanted us to follow three rules in life:

1) Respect your seniors - be they seniors in business or your elders within a family, they are wiser than you and will help you when you need it, so do as they ask without fuss and always pay them due respect.

2) Respect your environment - the environment obviously being the base. We should never break things purposefully or touch things we shouldn't. We should keep it clean and tidy - the way it was when we found it - and we were never to trash anything.

3) Respect Each Other - this means no arguing, we should share with one another and help one another.

To us these rules made sense, so we were more than happy to follow them. As such, Kat was happy for us to pretty much roam the entirebase by ourselves, as long as she knew which wing we would be in and when abouts we would be back. She trusted us.

That was always the difference between me and Soara, or "The Manx Twins" as we were branded, and Mitchell and Rachel, or "The Cruger Twins".

Mitchell and Rachel were nightmare children when we were young. Between the age of 2 and 5 their behaviour was awful! I'm sure me and Soara did have our moments but it was nothing compared to this!

Mitchell and Rachel didn't like to listen to Kat. They knew she was not their real mother, and she was only surrogating for them because Cruger, their father, couldn't manage by himself.

At bedtimes, they wouldn't settle. Kat or Cruger would put them to bed, depending on who was around. Sometimes they wouldn't let Kat do it, it had to be their dad, but who the adult was made no difference. They never stayed in bed, you'd hear them sneaking round the base when they were meant to be asleep. Even when they were in their room they were talking together or playing with their toys. We could hear them from our room, and sometimes their noise would disturb our sleep; frequently we would ask Kat to make them shut up, but there was nothing she could do.

Mornings were just as bad. Because they stayed up half the night, they would be shattered when it came to getting up. They would protest, and bury themselves under the covers, yelling at Kat (or sometimes Cruger) to go away and leave them alone. Kat would literally have to wrestle them out of bed, and you would hear their screams from half way across the base! Once, Rachel lashed out at Kat, and scratched her deeply across the shoulder. It bled a lot and Kat has a scar now. But she never once gave up with them! Brave Kat battled on, and forced them into their daywear. Even at the age of six she was doing it for them because whenever they chose their outfit it would not look good.

Bath time for the Cruger twins was worse than mornings or bed time. They'd refuse to get in, mucking Kat around saying it was either too hot or too cold, and do anything they could to get out of it, including run through the base naked. It was embarrassing for Kat of course, who couldn't do anything to stop them. Then when they finally got in, they would splash around and flood the bathroom, and then refuse to get out. Another two naked circuits of the base later and they'd let Kat dress them for bed because they were cold.

I can't think of one example where they followed Kat's three rules. From what I saw, it was always Rachel playing up, and Mitchell copying her. But still, Kat always liked to keep them under tight reign. They weren't allowed to roam the base like we were.

But that's just the difference between cats and dogs.


	3. A Sleepover

"Are you sure you're alright with this?" Kat asked again, rubbing the back of her neck, her face pulling a strained expression. "I don't mean to burden you."

"Kat, it's nothing," Z reassured her with a big smile. "It'll be fun!" She turned and looked at me and my sister. "Won't it?"

I nodded enthusiastically. For all our years living in the SPD Base, me and Soara had never slept anywhere other than our own room. This would be an adventure!

Kat relaxed slightly, but cast a worried gaze on Soara, who was looking at her feet and shuffling slightly.

"Soara?" Kat frowned, and bent down to her. "Will you be okay?"

"Of course," Soara looked straight into our mothers eyes.

Kat's brow furrowed briefly in concern but she seemed to accept the response, and straightened herself up.

"Well then, Zelda, Soara," Kat nodded at each of us respectively. "Have a good night, and I shall see you tomorrow evening."

"Goodbye Kat," I meowed, confidently.

"Bye..." Soara echoed, slightly more quietly.

Kat gave us one last brief look over, before turning and starting to leave the rec room. She paused on her way out and muttered to Z, "Please do not hesitate to call me if there are any issues at all." Z nodded, to show she had understood, and with that our mother was gone.

I looked up at Z expectantly. From the corner of my eye, I could see Soara looking around, fully taking in her surroundings for the first time. We didnt get to go in the Rec Room that much. In fact if truth be told, we didn't even know B-Squad that well. But our mother did, and that's why she had chosen to leave us in their care while she and Commander Cruger went off to some important meeting at HQ.

"So guys, what do you wanna do first?" Z grinned down at us. At that exact moment, my stomach rumbled loudly. "Haha, I suppose that answers the question... Let's see... Eighteen hundred hours, I imagine the rest of B-Squad are down there right now. Perhaps we should join them. Come on, I'll lead the way."

* * *

><p>"Oh hey, look who's here," B-Squad Red: Jack Landors, turned his head towards us as we sat down at the long table in the mess hall. "If it isn't the beautiful young Manx's themselves!"<p>

I dipped my head to him respectfully, while Soara visibly blushed.

"Jack, how are you?" I tried to imitate my mother's formal tone.

"Doing well, Miss Manx, and yourself?" Jack gave me a cheeky grin and a half-hearted salute. He knew it always pleased me when people treated me with the same respect in which they treated Kat.

"Not too bad," I answered with a smile. "Hungry!"

"Then get tucked in!" Z encouraged me and my sister. "The foods not gonna eat itself - and if you don't eat it, you better watch that piggy here doesn't eat it for you." She raised her eyebrows at Jack.

"Hey that's not fair!" Jack argued.

I looked across the table to Soara, who had been listening to our conversation. Her eyes flicked between the rangers and I could tell she was privately analysing the relationships between them all, their dynamics and how they functioned as a group.

"Soara," the green ranger Bridge caught my twin off guard, and she jumped. "S.. Sorry I didn't mean to startle you."

His tone was comforting, and I saw her visibly relax when she realised who it was. Bridge was a bit more of a familiar face. He worked in the labs sometimes.

"No worries," Soara gave a half-smile to the familiar face. "Good to see you Bridge."

Clearly not knowing what else to do or say, Bridge extended his arm toward her, in which he held a plate, stacked high with toast.

"Want some?" He asked, wiggling his free fingers as he added: "It's buttery!"

I could see my sister trying to evaluate the guesture: unsure if she should take a slice or not. You could almost hear the thoughts ticking over in her mind.

There was an awkward silence for a while. I noticed Sky - the blue ranger - turn a page and bury himself back in his book.

"What are you reading?" I asked boldly.

"It's the latest version of the SPD Handguide," Sky answered, clearly making an effort to keep his patience. "It has all the rules and guidelines for people within SPD. One day, you will have to familiarise yourself with it."

"Aww c'mon Sky, the girls aren't even nine yet!" Syd chirped up. "I bet they can barely even read."

My eyebrows knitted together slightly at that. We had been reading since the age of four or five, and already had a vocabulary range to rival some of the cadets. But I kept my opinions to myself, and instead begun to shovel the canteens mashed potato and fish fingers into my mouth. It was nothing like Kat's home cooking. This tasted different somehow, more artificial. I met Soara's gaze; she was clearly having similar thoughts, and I noticed how her meal was barely touched.

"I know it's not exactly what you're used to," Z commented sympathetically. "But when you're a cadet, a ranger… any food is gladly welcomed." I nodded. I could understand that. SPD has to feed hundreds of cadets, interns, nurses and technicians – people who have spent all day slaving away and in some cases fighting to protect us. It made sense that this was the most efficient way of doing it. But still, it didn't _quite_ match up to the seasoned and tender stews and casseroles that Kat made us. Eventually I had to give up on the stuff.

"C'mon," Syd said. "How about we go upstairs and do some girly stuff? I have facemasks and nail polish." I cringed internally.

"Eww no," Bridge said. "We should have headstanding competitions.. ."

"What about a game of lightball?" Jack suggested. "The girls would like that."

"They're too young for lightball," Sky sighed and flipped another page, uninterestedly.

"We could always just stick a movie on?" Z looked around for approval. There were several nods and vocalisations of agreement. "How about a good old comedy – we can use R.I.C as our projector?"

"Sure, sounds good!" I agreed quickly, and my sister nodded. The rangers looks uncertain, and I could tell there might have been a disagreement about genre if I had not been so quick to agree. No doubt Syd would have wanted a romance, and Jack would have wanted some kind of action film.

"Only if we can have popcorn," Sky looked up for a brief moment.

"Only if it's _buttery_," Bridge emphasised. Jack looked disbelievingly at his green ranger.

"Sure sure," Z was clearly keen to avoid an argument. "We'll find a nice funny film that everyone likes, and we'll have a range of flavour popcorn!"

"Cool," Jack gave me and Soara a cheeky grin. "Race ya to the rec room!"

"No, no running in the-" but Sky was too late. We'd gone.

It wasn't long before RIC was showing the film, a large screen projected up for us all to see. Me and Soara snuggled down into the sofa, between Bridge and Z, and munched on popcorn - salty, sweet, buttery and... was that bacon popcorn?!

Regardless. By the time Kat called Z to check up on us, we were already asleep.


	4. Some Old Bird

**Random chapter. An idea that just popped into my head. **

I have a very prominent memory in my head, from when we were about five or six. I don't know why this memory has lodged itself so firmly, but it has, so I will tell it to you... It was the time when Birdie came to visit. The time Birdie came looking for a new apprentice to the head scientist, and took a fancy to me and my sister...

His visit was unannounced, and Kat was taking us to the beach. We were walking down the corridor, when a huge man loomed out in front of us. He was tall, and covered in feathers with a beak protruding from his face.

"Birdie," My mother stopped suddenly. "... Sir."

I could sense my mothers panic and fear and I hid behind her. I did not know who he was. Now of course, I know him to be my supreme commanding officer, in charge of everyone, even Cruger. But I didn't know that then.

"Dr Manx." His voice was slow and sour and taut. He quickly cast a glance down his nose at me, and Kat put her hand on the back of my head for comfort. "I have come to talk to you and Cruger. Alone." Again with the glance.

My mother took the hint. She bent down to our level, "Zelda, Soara, go to the rec room and find the B-Squad rangers. Stay there until the commander or I come to get you."

We nodded and sped off.

"No running in the corridors!" Kat shouted after us. We dropped back to a walk. I heard her say to the man, "they're good kids."

Half way to the rec room I got a strange feeling in the pit of my stomach. Something about that man and his intentions didn't seem right. "Hey Soara... Wouldn't you like to know what they're talking about?"

_**X-X-X-X-X-X**_

"I just don't see commander. They're so young –too young to be separated from me!" It was my mother's voice talking as we approached the command centre.

"Dr Manx," I despised the way that bird like man spoke her name. "I believe on your home planet children under the age of 5 were taken from their mothers for training."

"You don't need to remind me!" Kats voice was raised but I could tell his words had induced tears.

"That was uncalled for Birdie!" Cruger snarled. Soara flinched, and even _I_ felt uncomfortable, at the harshness in his voice.

"What I'm saying is, your girls are 7 years of age. They'd be more than capable of being trained now." Birdie spoke. "You have already said it, the girls will be doing specialised training with SPD, no other education. So surely the sooner we start the better?"

Me and Soara looked at one another. They were talking about us

"This isn't Felle commander." My mother whispered. "Besides, I want to give them choice. Whilst I hope they will fulfil my wishes for them to train with SPD, I don't want to brain wash them into it, and they are too young to make a choice now."

"And wouldn't it be illegal?" Cruger questioned.

"Not if you signed the papers to give me full custody," Birdie stated.

"You... Want to... Adopt... One of my children?" Kat sounded as if she couldn't believe it.

"Well of course!" Birdie twittered. "Dr Manx, Cruger. You don't know how lucky you are to be parents... I can no longer have children due to my age. So you see it's not just the fact I need a scientist. I want someone to grow up to call me 'dad'."

I could sense the disbelief. I couldn't even believe it. Birdie my father? Yuck.

"I don't think that would be appropriate..." Kat stammered. "Not just the adoption but... All of it."

"Why not? Remember Sam, that young boy? He trained with SPD from a very young age, only ever in the art of being a ranger. What's the difference?" Birdie was beginning to get frustrated.

"The difference, Sir, is that Sam had no home, no place in any school, no future. Kat's girls have a home and good education, they're being trained by their mother. And even if they did choose to leave SPD they could quite easily get a job anywhere without problem - just because they grew up in SPD under Manx's care. And Sam was not adopted." Cruger explained.

"Cruger..." I heard the shuffle of Birdie's feet as he moved closer. "I could not help but notice SPD is suffering a little financially."

"We all are. These are tough times." Cruger sounded reproachful. If I had learned anything so far in life it was that money was a delicate subject.

"Give me one of the children." Birdie spoke slowly and clearly. "And I will increase your funding by 75%." there was a pause. "Think about it Cruger, that's an extra $18,750,000. You need it."

Silence. A long one.

"He wouldn't." Soara whispered, eyes wide and scared.

"Doggie..." Kats whimper broke the silence in the command centre.

"Birdie. I can't deny we have difficulties, money wise. An extra chunk of money like would benefit us greatly... Plus you are in terrible need of an apprentice head scientist and the HQ can only have the best. The best would be one of Manx's daughters." Cruger rumbled.

"Thank you Cruger." Birdie sounded chuffed.

"NO DOGGIE!" Kat wailed. "I WILL QUIT!"

"You will not, Manx. I will ensure you get a pay rise as of next month. Thank you commander, one of the girls and I will depart at 1800 hours. Obviously I would like to spend some time with the girls to decide which one I will employ but..."

"I NEVER FINISHED," the commander had to raise his voice to be heard above Birdie's rattling. "You can stop crying Miss Manx, neither of your daughters are going anywhere."

"What?" Birdie was fuming now. "But you... You said..."

"I merely stated we are in need of money and you are in need of a scientist." Cruger growled. "But the custody of Zelda and Soara is not mine to hand over. Their custody is solely in the hands of their mother, Dr Manx. And if their mother is unhappy... I won't allow her children to be taken away from her! Birdie we are an organisation that works together to defend the galaxy, not an organisation that tosses children - who are barely old enough to understand what we do here - from pillar to pillar."

"Oh Doggie, thank you!" I heard the clump of Kat hugging the commander.

"Commander, I think you'd better leave." Cruger growled at Birdie. "Good luck finding a scientist."

"And I think we had better scarper!" I whispered to Soara.

We pegged it to the rec room and pounced on Sky and Z, snatching their controls to the gaming console.

"Hey!" Z protested.

"Manners!" Sky grunted.

"We have been here half an hour! Just go with it!" I insisted. The rangers were perfectly used to this kind of situation, even when we were that age. Looking back on it we were real sneaks...

"Fine." they sighed.

**I think that chapter makes more sense in my head than it does on paper. Hmm. Let me know what you think!  
>I always thought Birdie was a bit of a weirdo...<strong>


	5. First Snowfall

**[A/N] sorry it's been so long!  
>I own nothing but my four OCs... and the snowman. I own the snowman. <strong>

One morning in early January, Kat woke me and Soara up in a hurry.

"Wake up children! Zelda, Soara, open your eyes! Something has happened." She was right, I remember thinking as I woke up; something in the atmosphere did feel different today. I opened my eyes slowly, and stood up out of bed. Instantly, the cold hit me and a long shiver passed through my spine causing me to arch my back, cat style.

"Wow, its cold!" I hissed.

"I know," I couldn't for the life of me work out why Kat seemed so thrilled about this fact. "Look out the window." I bounded over to the window and peered out. I let out a gasp at the sight before me. Where I would normally see a car park, a road, cars on the road, and then a park and some trees just across the road, I just saw white, a glittering, white expanse covering EVERYTHING.

"Move over, I want to see!" Soara tried to push me, but I wouldn't move. Instead she squeezed up next to me and peered over my shoulder. "What is it Kat?" She sounded unsure.

"Why, it's snow," Kat purred. "Isn't it beautiful?"

"Sure is," I breathed. "What do we do with it?"

"We don't do anything with it, honey. We leave it, and then it melts, and if we're lucky it will come back next year." Kat explained, happily.

"What's it made of?" Soara still sounded unsure about this strange new thing. "Will it hurt us?"

"Go and run your hand under that tap over there, Soara," Kat suggested, smiling. Soara obediently went over to the tap, turned it on and filled her hands with a tiny pool of water. "There. Did that hurt?"

"No," Soara looked at Kat, confused. "It's just water. Of course it didn't."

"Exactly. All snow is, is frozen water," Kat purred. "It will hurt you no more than water from the tap – except it might be a little bit cold!" Soara thought about it for a moment, and then smiled.

All of a sudden the lab doors hissed open, and three excited figures burst in.

"Good morning!" Cruger bellowed, before proceeding to throw a huge lump of the snow at the back of Kat's head. It made impact and disintegrated into millions of tiny pieces. Kat turned round and looked at him in mock anger, a cheeky light in her eyes. Soara giggled.

"Good morning, Commander," Kat said. "I see you have noticed the snow too."

"Yup," the commander and his two pups were dressed in thick jogging bottoms, and a warm coat, with matching gloves, hats and scarves. Each wore wellington boots up to their knees. It surprised me to see the Commander looking so informal. "And we're going out to play. I just thought I'd stop by and see if you, Zelda and Soara wanted to join us?"

I looked at Kat excitedly, who looked back at me and Soara, her eyes narrowed thoughtfully. We looked back at her pleadingly.

"Alright girls, get your warm gear on!" Kat chuckled. As me and Soara dashed away to get dressed, I heard her add to the commander, "We'll join you in a few minutes, Commander. Be prepared."

Within minutes we were making our way outside. As soon as the doors hissed open, the cold hit me. I shivered again, and my nose begun to tingle. I looked around; the snow seemed even brighter from outside. Kat was already wading in to it.

"Well, come on then!" she called. Gingerly, I took my first step. The stuff was thick, and it was hard to move around in, but with big and strong steps I could just about manage. As me and my sister waded further out into the snow, I could begin to see Cruger and the pups. They were throwing lumps of snow at each other, just like the one Cruger had attacked Kat with in the lab.

"What are they... doing?" I asked.

"They're having a snowball fight," Kat responded, sounding amused. "Maybe you should join in."

So I watched for a bit, and soon caught on; I bent down to make my own snowball, scooping the snow together until it made a sphere in my hand. I stood up, aimed and threw it, narrowly missing Mitchell's ear. He yelped in shock, and glared at me.

"Zelda Maria Manx, you are gonna pay for that!" He growled. Before long, we were in a snowball fight, Mitchell and Cruger versus myself and Kat. It was good to hear Kat laughing, and see her smile. It was also good to see Cruger so relaxed, and I enjoyed the friendly competition.

The competition was soon called to a halt at cries of, "Aunty Kat! Aunty Kat! Dad! Dad come look!" It was Rachel and Soara, running towards us as fast as they could in the snow.

"Come see what we've made!" Soara called out.

We all begun to trek across the snow, as Rachel and Soara led the way excitedly. As we got nearer, a shape loomed up on the horizon. I squinted to get a better view, and eventually this thing came into focus.

"Wow!" Kat exclaimed. "Well done."

"My dad was telling me how, so I thought me and Soara could make one whilst you guys were chucking snow at each other," Rachel explained, proudly.

I looked over this creation. At first, all it looked like, was two really big balls of snow, one placed on top of the other, and then a third smaller lump of snow on top. And they'd used sticks and stones to give it some sort of design... then it suddenly all made sense.

"It's a snow man!" I shouted, happily.

"Indeed it is, Zelda," Cruger growled. "And a pretty good one for a first attempt." Soara and Rachel danced around the snow man in pride. Cruger put his arm around Kat's shoulders and gave her a quick hug.

Suddenly, Kat's face lit up even more. "Hey, did I ever teach you kids how to make a snow angel?" She asked.

"No," we all responded, crowding around her. By this time, we were really into this snow business, and were eager to learn.

Kat grinned at our enthusiasm, "I'll show you then." She proceeded to lay down in the snow and flap her arms and legs about. When she stood up, she left behind the imprint of what looked like a perfect, Kat-shaped angel, wings, dress and everything.

"That's clever," Rachel admitted.

"Try it," Kat encouraged.

We all laid down and did the same as Kat. The snow went all down my neck and into my boots, but I didn't care – I was having way too much fun!

"Aww, mine looks like a blob," Soara moaned, as she stood up to look at her handiwork.

"Practice makes perfect!" Kat ruffled her hair. "Try again." And we did, until the whole of the front court was covered in snow angels. In the end though, me and Soara begun to shiver.

"I think it would be best if we get everyone inside," Cruger suggested. We protested and whined, but he was insistent. "We can have a hot drink and change our clothes. That way we will all warm up. Then we can come out again after lunch, maybe with B-Squad?"

"Yea, and we can get a full on snowball fight going then!" I suggested with an evil glint in my eye.

"Or build the biggest snowman EVER!" Soara grinned.

"Yea," Rachel agreed. "Sky's pretty tall; I bet he could get the head on for us if we made a really tall body." Soara nodded in agreement.

"In we go then, my little mischief makers." Kat ushered us indoors. "Go inside and get changed, so we can be back outside again as quick as possible!"

And that is exactly what we did.

I thought I was so clever though. On the way in, after a fast paced snowball fight with the rangers, I scooped up a small bit of snow and hid it under my jacket. When we were inside, I snuck into the kitchen and hid it in the fridge. I wanted to keep a little bit of the snow to play with, even when there wasn't any on the ground outside.

That night I went straight to sleep, and as soon as I woke up the next morning, I ran to the fridge to check up on my snow. But there was nothing there. Just a puddle. I hung my head in sadness and disappointment.

"Never mind," I felt my mother's hand on my shoulder. "If we're lucky, the snow will come again next year, or even sooner!" I looked up at her and smiled. "Come on. Let's get you dressed."


	6. Scattered Herbs

**As always I own nothing. I didn't really know how to end this chapter so no flames please~**

"Great gods above!" My mother's horrified and angry yowl resonated through B-Wing. It was angry enough to send me and Soara scurrying in her direction, pelting all the way from our quarters to the infirmary.

When we got there, I gasped at what I saw. My uncle's medical supplies were scattered around the room: herbs still in their raw state hanging from shelves like entrails, berries and pills dancing around in unison, puddles of various liquids and medicines spreading lazily across the floor. Some were potent in nature, I could tell by their foul scent. None of them should be mixed like this, and it was unrealistic to expect that they would be recoverable.

And right in the very centre of the room… sat Mitchell and Rachel. Their clothes stained and wet with the soiled medicines.

"What have you done?" Kat hissed angrily, glaring down at the pups, who shuffled awkwardly. Felix stood, in a state of calm anger, his face stern as the pups were scolded.

"Kat, please, don't be too hard on them…" Commander Cruger murmured from behind her. She ignored him.

"Well?" She snarled. Her green eyes were on fire.

Rachel and Mitchell looked at each other, and then back down at the ground. Clearly neither wanted to blame the other. My mother slitted her eyes and evaluated them both. I knew most of her anger was only born out of fear – if these pups had eaten or drank too much of any of this stuff, they could get seriously ill quite quickly.

"We're sorry Kat," Mitchell whimpered, his tall canine ears close to his head. "It's just-"

"Just what?" Was the hissed response. "You think that 'sorry' cuts it? You think that 'sorry' replaces all the damaged herbs, and heals all the people in need of them? You think 'sorry' tidies all the mess, and replaces what we're now missing?"

"We were just playing!" Rachel protested.

"Kat," Felix murmered, placing his hand on her shoulder. "They are only a few years old."

Kat glared at the commander then turned her head to Felix, lowered it slightly and spoke in a barely audible tone: "Perhaps, but Zelda and Soara are only a few years old too; they would have known not to do this!"

"They have tribe blood running in their veins," Felix responded, equally as quietly. I noticed Cruger narrow his eyes as a small growl escaped his throat. "These young pups do not. It would make sense that your twins would know not to mess with herbs, not to let the spirits of the plants escape, while these two-" my uncle flicked an ear toward the pups "-would not."

My mother seemed to relax slightly.

"Did you eat anything?" She hissed, confirming my suspicions as she bared her fangs at the pups, who stared back at her, wide-eyed and terrified. _"Well?"_

"This is important," Felix added, his voice still steady and calm.

"N-no!" Rachel whimpered, flattening her ears.

"And you?" Kat hissed at Mitchell, who was looking to his father in anguish.

"I consumed nothing," the boy tried to bark, but it came out as more of a squeak. I could sense his embarrassment.

Kat stood up straighter and visibly relaxed. She nodded thoughtfully, then turned to Cruger, "Get them out of here. Make sure they bathe straight away, and wash their clothes - _thoroughly_."

As Cruger ushered the youngsters out of the room, my mother sighed in despair and looked around.

"The nasty cat-lady scared me!" Mitchell's yelp was just audible. I silently prayed that Kat had not heard him, but the way she flinched told me she had.

I opened my mouth to say something, but she beat me to it, "Looks like we'd better get to work here. This whole store cupboard will need to be scrubbed and sterilised." She frowned in irritation. "Medicines will need to be replaced."

"Worry not," my ever-calm Uncle Felix murmured. "I'll send some medical interns out tomorrow to gather raw materials from our partnering botany labs, and see that the pharmaceutical department is working overtime at double speed."

"This is all my fault, I should have been watching them," Kat sounded anguished. Then her tone changed to anger. "I trusted Commander Cruger!" She hissed. Then she glanced at us and her gaze softened once again. Kat always tried not to get angry in front of us.

"Girls," Felix purred, looking down at us. "Why don't you find Z or Syd? I think they were planning on doing a mud run today!" He flicked an ear amusedly.

Soara's eyes lit up, but I looked dubiously at the mess before us.

"We'll sort it," Kat promised, she knelt down to look me in the eye. "It is not your duty to worry about this, you are young, as they are." She tilted her head slightly. "Get one of the rangers to bring you back to my lab before sunset, but run along now and have fun."


End file.
